Standard pressure (or more commonly referred to as “blast”)/splinter charges with an explosive charge mass C (energy supplier) and a casing mass M are known in the art. The Gurney equation μ=M/C determines the velocity v, and therefore the impulse I=Mv or the kinetic energy Ekin=M/2v2 of the casing.
The residual energy of the total explosive energy Etot stored goes into the blast power EB of the explosive charge. These two components together, splinter energy and blast energy (Ekin+EB), therefore determine the total power of a blast/splinter charge.
There is an optimum for the kinetic energy or else the impulse of a charge. The optimum depends on predefined marginal conditions; in this case, for example, a constant total mass and constant caliber. Alternatively, for example, a constant total volume could also be required.
The achievement of an optimum requires a given ratio of M and C to one another. This optimum is frequently sought if no other marginal conditions are specified, such as a thick charge casing for a penetrator to perforate structural targets with thick concrete walls, for example. There are therefore frequently constraints when it comes to deciding which M-to-C ratios can be chosen.
The maximum blast power that can possibly be attained requires the oxygen in the air to be used for the after-reaction, in other words for the combustion of the total explosive vapors produced to be utilized. This is because military explosives are heavily oxygen-underbalanced, i.e. the total possible blast power is only partially released during detonation. There are still a large number of incompletely oxidized molecules in the vapor, such as C, CO, HO (or extra added metal powder such as Al) rather than CO2 and H2O (or Al2O3), for example. Complete oxidation of these vapors requires adequate blending with the ambient air, however.
Tests have revealed that these after-reactions with air can be entirely suppressed, i.e. there is only negligible after-combustion, leading to a correspondingly sharp reduction in blast power. It was possible to demonstrate in this case that the difference between the complete blast power and suppressed blast power is, for example, up to 400%.
The explanation for this phenomenon lies in the sharp temperature drop caused by adiabatic expansion of the vapor gases. Before the casing rips open and the explosive vapors are mixed with air and react with the oxygen, the vapors have cooled down to such an extent that they have fallen below the thresholds of the reaction temperatures for different gas molecules (e.g. CO)—there is a complete suppression of vapor reactions.
The problem addressed by the disclosure herein is therefore that of specifying a method with which a known warhead can easily be switched between splinter generation and pressure (blast) generation.
As has already been stated, the casing acts as a barrier between the expanding vapors and the ambient air. Any delay in removing this barrier results in the vapor temperatures having already fallen below the reaction thresholds, so that the reactions are suppressed.